{"monthlySchoolDonationEnabled":true,"callToActionDisplayName":"Gunning Bedford Middle School","outOfStateSupporters":39.6,"allowSchoolLevelGiving":true,"hasFundedProjects":true,"projectGratitudeData":[{"teacherId":10311930,"projectId":9828467,"letterContent":"I want to thank you for providing my students with pencils and alternate seating options in the classroom. Your generosity has made a positive difference in creating a more comfortable and engaging learning environment for my students. Daily, students can go to the classroom bin and use a pencil without having to ask or spend time searching for one. Having access to these supplies means that every student is prepared and able to fully participate in daily in-classwork. \r\n\r\nThe alternate seating has had a positive impact on student focus, collaboration, comfort and the classroom atmosphere. Students are excited about flexible seating and have been more comfortable learning in class. \r\n\r\nYour kindness and commitment to education are truly appreciated, and I am grateful for the investment you have made in helping my students succeed.","fullyFundedDate":1769177919896,"projectUrl":"project/creative-writing-with-creative-seating/9828467/","projectTitle":"Creative Writing with Creative Seating","teacherDisplayName":"Ms. Murphy","teacherPhotoUrl":"https://cdn.donorschoose.net/images/placeholder-avatars/272/teacher-placeholder-6_272.png?auto=webp","teacherClassroomUrl":"classroom/10311930"},{"teacherId":9752901,"projectId":10071105,"letterContent":"Thank you so much for your generous support of my classroom through DonorsChoose. Because of your kindness, my students now have access to engaging math-focused books that truly meet their interests and learning needs. With titles covering fractions, exponential growth, perimeter, area and volume, and multiplication strategies, along with Times Tables Tricks: For Visual and Hands-On Learners, The Number Devil, Supermath: The Power of Numbers for Good and Evil, and Money Skills for Teens, students are seeing math in new and meaningful ways. These resources help make abstract concepts more approachable while also connecting math to real-world situations.\r\n\r\nOne of the most rewarding impacts has been seeing how students choose to use these books. When they're done with their work for the day, many students are reaching for these books first. Instead of bringing in books from the school library or borrowing from their ELA teachers, they are choosing these classroom books to explore math, problem-solving, and real-life applications. It has been incredibly meaningful to watch students engage with these texts by choice, sparking curiosity and conversations that extend beyond our regular lessons.\r\n\r\nYour support is making a lasting difference by building both skills and confidence in my students. Thank you for investing in their learning and helping create a classroom environment where students are excited to explore, read, and grow.","fullyFundedDate":1769972339553,"projectUrl":"project/developing-strong-math-thinkers-one-res/10071105/","projectTitle":"Developing Strong Math Thinkers, One Resource at a Time","teacherDisplayName":"Ms. Sturkey","teacherPhotoUrl":"https://storage.donorschoose.net/dc_prod/images/teacher/profile/orig/tp9752901_orig.jpg?crop=1:1,smart&width=272&height=272&fit=bounds&auto=webp&t=1754348773584","teacherClassroomUrl":"classroom/9752901"},{"teacherId":10323721,"projectId":9847509,"letterContent":"I am writing to sincerely thank you for funding the technology project for my students. Because of your generosity, my special education students now have access to tools that have transformed their learning experience.\r\n\r\nThe donated iPad has allowed my students to access general education content in ways that were previously challenging for them. With features such as speech-to-text, word prediction, and apps like Kami Companion, they are now able to more fully participate in classroom activities and express their understanding through alternate modes of writing.\r\n\r\nOne of the most powerful changes I've seen is in their writing are within the students who once struggled to get their thoughts onto paper are now able to expand their ideas into organized paragraphs. Speech-to-text technology has given them a voice, and word prediction has helped build their confidence and independence as writers. They are not only completing assignments, but they are sharing their ideas, perspectives, and creativity more than ever before.\r\n\r\nYour support has made learning more accessible, equitable, and empowering for my students. Thank you for believing in their potential and investing in their success. Your generosity is making a meaningful and lasting difference in their educational journey.\r\n\r\nWith heartfelt gratitude,\r\n\r\nLaura Shalk","fullyFundedDate":1760933746315,"projectUrl":"project/a-touch-of-technology-a-world-of-diffe/9847509/","projectTitle":"“a Touch of Technology, a World of Difference”","teacherDisplayName":"Ms. Shalk","teacherPhotoUrl":"https://cdn.donorschoose.net/images/placeholder-avatars/272/teacher-placeholder-1_272.png?auto=webp","teacherClassroomUrl":"classroom/10323721"},{"teacherId":10323587,"projectId":9847369,"letterContent":"Thank you for the donation of the books for 6th grade ELA classroom at Gunning Bedford. My goal was to provide students more access to reading materials that reflect themselves in books. The books that Donors Choose provided are amazingly diverse. So many cultures are represented in these books.\r\nI had several students begin reading First State Being which they find so cool and relatable because the book's setting is very close to where our students live. This was such an engaging start to the book. I read the first chapter for the first chapter Friday and then I gave out several of the books for the students continue reading.","fullyFundedDate":1760932840534,"projectUrl":"project/seeing-themselves-in-books/9847369/","projectTitle":"Seeing Themselves in Books!","teacherDisplayName":"Mrs. Crilley","teacherPhotoUrl":"https://cdn.donorschoose.net/images/placeholder-avatars/272/teacher-placeholder-4_272.png?auto=webp","teacherClassroomUrl":"classroom/10323587"},{"teacherId":10353591,"projectId":9903656,"letterContent":"I would like to extend our sincere gratitude for your generous donation of technology and supplies. Your support has made a meaningful difference in enhancing our ability to learn, create, connect and have a few treats along the way.\r\n\r\nThe supplies you provided will greatly improve our access to essential digital tools and resources. With your contribution, we are better equipped to support innovation, collaboration, and productivity within our community.\r\n\r\nWe truly appreciate your commitment to empowering others through technology. Your generosity not only provides valuable resources but also inspires continued growth and opportunity for the kids here at Gunning Bedford..\r\n\r\nThank you again for your kindness and support. We are incredibly grateful!","fullyFundedDate":1763475605302,"projectUrl":"project/tech-treats-and-counting-success/9903656/","projectTitle":"Tech, Treats, and Counting Success","teacherDisplayName":"Mr. Arent","teacherPhotoUrl":"https://cdn.donorschoose.net/images/placeholder-avatars/272/teacher-placeholder-6_272.png?auto=webp","teacherClassroomUrl":"classroom/10353591"},{"teacherId":8338360,"projectId":9860317,"letterContent":"My class and I appreciate your generosity in giving our class additional materials to assist students with their learning. Our class has greatly enjoyed the addition of new flexible seating and models! Students were so excited to enter the room and see the new furniture, allowing more students to choose a seat that helps them focus and move - allowing them to focus more on the content.\r\n\r\nWe have yet to use the models for Earth and space, as that unit is next, but students are excited to see the models and have already generated questions. The use of models in a science classroom is essential, since only so much can be taught through use of readings and videos - many benefit from hands on, concrete materials.\r\n\r\nWe are so grateful for your kindness, and my 8th graders are benefiting due to your thinking of us!","fullyFundedDate":1761611951779,"projectUrl":"project/literacy-in-middle-school-science/9860317/","projectTitle":"Literacy in Middle School Science","teacherDisplayName":"Mrs. Ferry","teacherPhotoUrl":"https://storage.donorschoose.net/dc_prod/images/teacher/profile/orig/tp8338360_orig.jpg?crop=500,500,x0,y125&width=272&height=272&fit=bounds&auto=webp&t=1645200234936","teacherClassroomUrl":"classroom/8338360"},{"teacherId":10326399,"projectId":9851836,"letterContent":"Thank you from the bottom of my heart for your generous support of my 7th-grade classroom. Your donation of snacks and an iPad has made a meaningful and immediate impact on my students. For many of them, school is the place where they receive consistent meals, and having access to snacks throughout the day helps keep them focused, energized, and ready to learn. Your kindness is quite literally fueling their minds, hearts, and bellies.\r\n\r\nBeyond nourishment, your gift communicates something even more powerful to my students: that they are seen, valued, and cared for. When students receive food from their teacher, it brings a sense of comfort and love that creates a safe and welcoming learning environment. The iPad has also opened doors for engagement, creativity, and access to learning tools that deepen understanding and build confidence.\r\n\r\nBecause of you, my classroom is a place where students feel supported academically and emotionally. Thank you for investing in our children and for helping create a space where learning and compassion go hand in hand. Your generosity will continue to make a difference every single day.","fullyFundedDate":1761399240221,"projectUrl":"project/fuel-for-the-heart-and-mind-helping-stu/9851836/","projectTitle":"Fuel for the Heart and Mind: Helping Students Believe","teacherDisplayName":"Ms. Henry","teacherPhotoUrl":"https://cdn.donorschoose.net/images/placeholder-avatars/272/teacher-placeholder-10_272.png?auto=webp","teacherClassroomUrl":"classroom/10326399"},{"teacherId":10314873,"projectId":9835518,"letterContent":"Thank you so much for accepting my Donors Choose project. This has been a complete game changer for our daily operations in the classroom. \r\n\r\nHaving a designated area of our classroom where students can retrieve their missing work has been amazing. This saves a lot of time when trying to help absent students catch up on missing work. In addition, this places the accountability on the students to be responsible for collecting their missing work. This system is organized by class. This can also hold additional copies of assignments in the event a student should lose his or her paper. \r\n\r\nThe privacy folders have completely transformed our testing environment. Students can relax and take comfort in knowing that they are able to put up a small barricade to block out small distractions and completely focus. Students report that they feel calm and safe in their own personal space optimizing the opportunity for scholars to be able to do their best on academic assessments. Students report that when we used a blank sheet of paper to cover answers, students felt additional pressure to cover their answers from their neighbors. In addition, students felt pressure to rush to finish in seeing other students finish. While using the privacy folders, students can not necessarily see when other students finish thereby relieving at least a portion of pressure. \r\n\r\nThe ipad helps me create engaging lesson plans in a mobile fashion that my school issued laptop does not permit. Having the laminating sheets enables me to laminate the vocabulary for our word wall. This helps to preserve items of this nature that I will continue to use year after year.","fullyFundedDate":1760804543628,"projectUrl":"project/engaging-educator/9835518/","projectTitle":"Engaging Educator","teacherDisplayName":"Mrs. Freeman","teacherPhotoUrl":"https://cdn.donorschoose.net/images/placeholder-avatars/272/teacher-placeholder-7_272.png?auto=webp","teacherClassroomUrl":"classroom/10314873"},{"teacherId":10312118,"projectId":9828965,"letterContent":"Thank you so much for funding my DonorsChoose project, Books We Love: Building Literacy Through Creativity and Organization. Because of your generosity, my sixth, seventh, and eighth grade special education students received engaging new books, along with folders and markers that allowed them to creatively organize and personalize their learning.\r\n\r\nThe new texts you provided-such as Dog Man, Diary of a Wimpy Kid, Harry Potter, and The Magic Tree House-have already had a powerful impact in our classroom. These books introduced and reinforced important literacy skills, including building reading stamina, improving comprehension, identifying story elements (characters, setting, problem, and solution), expanding vocabulary, and making text-to-self connections. Many students are also practicing inference, summarizing, and discussing themes in ways that feel natural and enjoyable because they are genuinely excited about what they are reading.\r\n\r\nReading in my 6th–8th grade special education classroom looks joyful, flexible, and student-centered. Students read independently, listen to peer or teacher read-alouds, and engage in small-group discussions at their own instructional levels. Choice is a huge part of our literacy block-students are encouraged to select books that interest them, which builds confidence and motivation. The folders and markers you provided allowed students to design their own book-themed folders, helping them stay organized while expressing creativity and ownership over their learning.\r\n\r\nSeveral students have been especially excited about the new books. One student who previously struggled to finish a book has proudly completed multiple Dog Man titles and now eagerly recommends them to classmates. Another student has become completely immersed in Harry Potter, asking thoughtful questions and making predictions about what will happen next. A group of students loves Diary of a Wimpy Kid because the humor and illustrations help them better understand the story while boosting their confidence as readers. Seeing students laugh, share, and voluntarily read during free moments has been incredibly rewarding.\r\n\r\nYour support has helped create a classroom environment where reading feels accessible, fun, and meaningful. Thank you for investing in my students and for helping them grow as readers, thinkers, and creators. Your generosity truly made a difference.","fullyFundedDate":1760655731543,"projectUrl":"project/books-we-love-building-literacy-through/9828965/","projectTitle":"Books We Love: Building Literacy Through Creativity and Organization","teacherDisplayName":"Ms. Fleck","teacherPhotoUrl":"https://cdn.donorschoose.net/images/placeholder-avatars/272/teacher-placeholder-10_272.png?auto=webp","teacherClassroomUrl":"classroom/10312118"},{"teacherId":10309131,"projectId":9818774,"letterContent":"I am writing to express my deepest gratitude for your generous support of our project. While I knew these books and center resources would be a valuable addition to our classroom, I could not have anticipated the emotional impact they would have on my students. The resources you funded have done more than teach literacy; they have provided a mirror for students to explore their identities and better understand their unique profiles.\r\n\r\nThe most meaningful feedback has come directly from the students. After spending time with these new books, they shared their thoughts in thank-you notes that truly highlight the transformative impact on their self-perception:\r\n\r\n\"Your gift will help us with our learning more about our brains and practice our reading skills. It makes us feel confident and feel proud of who I am.\"\r\n\r\n\"It will help us learn more about our disability. I love learning about new things.\"\r\n\r\n\"Your gift will help us feel proud of how we grow. We all love the books because they help us. We love them so much.\"","fullyFundedDate":1760316028881,"projectUrl":"project/literacy-confidence-reading-centers-to/9818774/","projectTitle":"Literacy Confidence: Reading Centers to Power Sixteen Dreamers!","teacherDisplayName":"Ms. Madonna","teacherPhotoUrl":"https://storage.donorschoose.net/dc_prod/images/teacher/profile/orig/tp10309131_orig.jpg?crop=3024,3024,x631,y0&width=272&height=272&fit=bounds&auto=webp&t=1760223357868","teacherClassroomUrl":"classroom/10309131"},{"teacherId":5987036,"projectId":9853244,"letterContent":"Thank you so much to our generous donors for providing our special education classroom with an iPad and a color printer. These resources have made a significant difference for my students, who are autistic and have learning disabilities, by increasing their access to grade-level curriculum in meaningful and engaging ways. The iPad is used daily for assistive communication, interactive learning applications, visual schedules, and individualized instruction. It supports students in developing language, social skills, and academic understanding while allowing them to demonstrate their knowledge in ways that best match their abilities. This technology has helped increase student independence, engagement, and confidence in the classroom.\r\n\r\nThe color printer allows us to create high-quality visual supports that are essential for student success. We use it to produce adapted worksheets, task cards, visual directions, behavior supports, and structured routines that help students better understand expectations and academic content. These materials provide clear, concrete representations of abstract concepts and support students in staying organized and focused throughout the day. Your generosity has directly enhanced our learning environment and has given my students tools they need to access instruction, build skills, and experience success. We are truly grateful for your support.","fullyFundedDate":1761333914606,"projectUrl":"project/c-setting-literacy-support/9853244/","projectTitle":"C Setting Literacy Support","teacherDisplayName":"Mrs. Fuhr","teacherPhotoUrl":"https://storage.donorschoose.net/dc_prod/images/teacher/profile/272x272/tp5987036_272x272.jpg?width=272&height=272&fit=bounds&auto=webp&t=1539788917589","teacherClassroomUrl":"classroom/5987036"},{"teacherId":10315022,"projectId":9835814,"letterContent":"On behalf of my middle school math classroom, we would like to thank you for your generous contributions to our learning environment. The iPad, whiteboard, and motivational stickers have already made a positive impact in our classroom. \r\n\r\nThe iPad allows my students to engage in hands-on learning, explore interactive math learning apps, and show their math thinking by connecting it to the SmartBoard. \r\n\r\nMy students love coming up to the whiteboard to collaborate and show their work with their peers. I'm also able to provide a place for exemplar math work to live and students to reference throughout the class period.\r\n\r\nThe motivational stickers were an absolute hit and the students love working hard to earn one. \r\n\r\nThank you for supporting our classroom as it is greatly appreciated!","fullyFundedDate":1761762539143,"projectUrl":"project/growth-matters-be-a-part-of-something-s/9835814/","projectTitle":"Growth Matters, Be a Part of Something Special!","teacherDisplayName":"Mrs. Gordon","teacherPhotoUrl":"https://cdn.donorschoose.net/images/placeholder-avatars/272/teacher-placeholder-2_272.png?auto=webp","teacherClassroomUrl":"classroom/10315022"}],"pageName":"schoolpage_44539","usesDonorsChoose":true,"infoPageType":"school","demographicsInfo":{"numStudents":1041,"numTeachers":52,"percentFrplEligible":66,"percentAsian":3,"percentBlack":50,"percentWhite":25,"percentIndigenous":0,"percentLatinx":15,"showFreeAndReducedPriceLunchInfo":true,"showDemographicsInfo":true,"sourceTooltipString":"the National Center for Education Statistics","percentHawaiianImputed":0,"percentMultiracialImputed":4,"gradesServed":"6 - 8","studentTeacherRatio":"20.0:1","demographicsDataSource":"MDR School","equityFocus":true,"titleOne":true,"metroType":"SUBURBAN","ncesMetroType":"RURAL_FRINGE"},"inStateSupporters":60.4,"schoolId":44539,"financialInfo":null,"twitterShareText":"Learn more about Gunning Bedford Middle School on @DonorsChoose:","schoolName":"Gunning Bedford Middle School","canonicalPageUrl":"schools/delaware/colonial-school-district/gunning-bedford-middle-school/44539"}